Irish Language Broadcast Fund

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is still their policy to create an Irish Language Film and Television Fund; if so, when; and what similar arrangements are to be put in place for Ulster-Scots under the policy of parity of esteem.

Baroness Amos: The Irish Language Broadcast Fund, which is expected to come on stream early next year, stems from a commitment in the Joint Declaration made by the UK and Irish Governments in April 2003. There was also a commitment to encourage support to be made available for an Ulster-Scots academy. I can confirm that the Government have given equal attention to both commitments and have earmarked a similar level of resources for both. My honourable friend the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure is currently considering a business case for an Ulster-Scots academy.

Global Pool on Conflict Resolution

Lord Judd: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are their plans for the future of the Global Pool on Conflict Resolution; what proportion of the aid budget will be allocated to it in each of the next five years; and how this compares with the proportions in each of the past five years.

Baroness Amos: A major external evaluation of the conflict prevention pools by Bradford University's Department of Peace Studies was completed in March 2004. The UK government response, published in July 2004, welcomed the evaluation's finding that the pools are effective and should be continued. It confirmed that conflict prevention continues to be a key part of the UK's international policy and that the conflict prevention pools will continue to promote inter-departmental policy-making, and support to HM Government's ongoing diplomatic activity, defence relations and development programmes.
	The government response also set out a programme of work being taken forward to reinforce the pools' ability to develop and deliver effective conflict prevention programmes. Full details of the UK government response to the evaluation of the conflict prevention pools is available at http://www.dfid.gov.uk/aboutdfid/performance/files/ev647.asp.
	Global conflict prevention pool (GCPP) funds are voted specially by Parliament for conflict prevention and reduction, and are not a subset of the aid budget. Activity under the GCPP's component conflict prevention strategies is split fairly evenly between the three participating departments (DfID, FCO and MoD). However, funding is transferred according to which department will account for the expenditure and the FCO (for convenience, with its global network of posts) accounts for up to half of global pool expenditure. The GCPP was established in 2001, and the recent spending review (SR) 2004 provided allocation of funding for 2005–06 to 2007–08 (Please see the table below). Funding for the GCPP beyond 2007–08 will be determined by the next spending review in 2006.
	
		
			  Total GCPP allocation (DfID/FCO/MoD) DfID GCPPexpenditure Total DfID aid budget(Resource outturn) DfID GCPP expenditure aspercentage of total DFID aid budget 
			 2001–02 £60 million £6.7 million £3,137 million 0.22 per cent 
			 2002–03 £68 million £13.8 million £3,596 million 0.38 per cent 
			 2003–04 £74 million £25.5 million £3,742 million 0.69 per cent 
			 2004–05 £74 million £21.5 million (forecast) £3,765 million (forecast) 0.57 percent. (forecast) 
			 2005–06 £74 million £22 million (forecast) £4,536 million (forecast) 0.49 per cent. (forecast) 
			 2006–07 £74 million £21 million (forecast) £5,030 million (forecast) 0.42 per cent. (forecast) 
			 2007–08 £74 million £21 million (forecast) £5,324 million (forecast) 0.40 per cent. (forecast)